From £8m Nottingham Forest transfer to free agent: Player's career reaches crossroads | OneFootball

Arvin Appiah, once of Nottingham Forest and Rotherham United, is part of the PFA's trial list this week

Week three of the PFA pre-season has thrown up some real nostalgic names, and one surprising one, too.

Every year, the PFA puts on pre-season training sessions for players out of contract, intending to build their fitness ahead of landing a contract somewhere for the new campaign. Alongside those sessions, they play friendly games against professional sides up and down the pyramid.

The majority of the time, the player lists are filled with veterans looking to wind down their careers with one final year at an EFL club.

The 45 free agents joining for week three include the likes of 36-year-olds Fernando Forestieri and Ben Amos and 34-year-olds Jamie Paterson and Tom Eaves, alongside numerous other household EFL names.

But there have been some rather shocking additions to the lineup this week, with some players in the prime of their careers without a contract or not even on trial at a club joining the PFA's sessions.

Former Nottingham Forest and Rotherham United full-back Arvin Appiah is training with the PFA

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The stand-out player out of the 45 this week in the PFA's pre-season is arguably Arvin Appiah, who is a free agent after his time at UD Almeria in Spain finally came to an end this summer.

The wideman, who emerged as a winger but has since played more as a left-back, hadn't played for Almeria in four years before his release this summer, which is rather strange, given the Spanish side invested a whopping £8 million in him in 2019 when they signed him from Nottingham Forest.

Indeed, the 25-year-old came through the academy at the City Ground, making his debut aged just 17 in the EFL Cup and scoring despite defeat against Burton Albion in October 2018.

After just eight senior appearances for the Reds, though, he was sold to ease Financial Fair Play demands at the then-Championship club.

Appiah would make 62 appearances for Almeria, including 31 in their 2021/22 title-winning campaign in the Spanish second tier, but he wouldn't be given an opportunity with the club in La Liga.

After spending time out on loan with five different clubs following his final appearance for Los Rojiblancos, including Rotherham United during the 2023/24 Championship campaign, he's been released and has joined up with the PFA for pre-season.

For someone who cost £8 million as an 18-year-old, he really hasn't lived up to expectations, and he'll be looking to finally kick on at a permanent home next season, perhaps back in the EFL.

Arvin Appiah's recent Championship stint amid return to England for pre-season

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Appiah's move to Rotherham in 2023, aged just 22, offered him an opportunity to showcase why a healthy seven-figure fee was placed on him four years earlier.

He'd spent the previous season out on loan at Tenerife and Malaga — his first loan spells following Almeria's promotion to La Liga — but made just three starts in the La Liga 2 campaign across both stints.

The wideman needed game time to showcase he was ready for the top flight upon his return, but his time in South Yorkshire proved to have nearly the opposite effect.

Appiah made 29 league appearances for the Millers, but only seven were starts. He registered just one assist as Rotherham were relegated bottom on 27 points; the fifth-lowest tally in Championship history.

Evidently, he wasn't ready for a La Liga spot, and time in Portugal with CD Nacional and France with Aimens didn't do much to change that, either. The 25-year-old is now looking for a more permanent home and a fresh start.

Unfortunately, that spell at the AESSEAL New York Stadium likely hasn't struck confidence into potential suitors about bringing him in, and with his stock rather low, it may be a third or even fourth-tier side who takes a punt on him, if it's an EFL club he lands at.

But there's clearly a talented player in there, else he wouldn't have been sold for such a fee seven years ago. Appiah would be a low-risk signing, but one with high upside if he settles well.